


slightly cracked

by AgentQutie



Series: 'cause everything is new (and everything is you) [3]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Puns, Developing Friendships, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Post-Season/Series 01, are the puns bad on purpose or bc I'm bad at punning? hmm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 04:58:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16078913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentQutie/pseuds/AgentQutie
Summary: Len makes a friend, mostly by accident.





	slightly cracked

Iris West is possibly the last person Len expected to approve of this thing between him and Barry.

Barry sure had been nervous about telling her, but from what he says her only reaction was to ask a few questions and then invite Len to have coffee with her. Len doesn’t know what to expect, but the hard look she gives him the moment he enters Jitters leads him to believe she has _some_ reservations, at least.

He orders a Flash -- just to be an asshole, truth be told -- and heads for her table, masking his honest curiosity behind a politely neutral expression.

“Miss West,” he greets. He takes a seat and makes himself comfortable, anticipating a long conversation.

“Iris is fine,” she says, then hesitates. “Leonard?”

For some reason, the question puts him on the defensive. He's no more fond of his last name than he is his first, and it's not like he's about to ask her to call him _Len._

Len just shrugs. “I was expecting something along the lines of ‘you cold-hearted bastard’, but I guess it'll do.”

“Yeah.” Iris shakes her head with a snort. “Well, I'm the only one of Barry’s friends you haven't kidnapped, and dad's giving him the silent treatment. I'm not thrilled about this, but I figured Bear needed someone on his side.”

And Len, for the life of him, simply can’t understand how she projects so much confidence and certainty while laying all her cards on the table.

“So this is what, a begrudging peace offering?”

“With a warning attached,” she says. “If you are doing this whole thing to somehow gain leverage on the Flash, or if you use it against him in any way --”

“There's easier, significantly less complicated ways to go about it, if that was my goal.”

“Maybe. But none of them would hurt him as much, right?”

Len could placate her, he could look her in the eye and promise with oscar-worthy sincerity that he'd never, ever do anything to hurt Barry. He wouldn't even have to mean it. It could be a perfect bluff.

But then he might believed it himself, and Len knows better than that.

“I'm not trying to hurt him,” he bites out. That's not quite the same, and more honest than he'd like. “There's no cunning plan here. Flash and Cold won't stop being who they are, but this isn't about them.” She still looks sceptical. Len offers her a sardonic smile. “Scout’s honour.”

“There's no way you were a boy scout.”

He wasn't. “How would you know?”

“You're right,” Iris  agrees after a moment, leaning forward on the table suddenly. “I don't know anything about you. Or you about me. But it looks like we're gonna have to get used to each other, so let's change that.”

Len is very much a fan of people not knowing anything about him. At least anything of substance. Miss West is trying to figure out whether there's a chance the criminal she's seen on TV is somehow good enough to date Barry; of course the answer is a resounding _no_ , and she should know that. But if she wants to play twenty questions, Len can indulge her.

* * *

 The first time Len is invited to the West household is, admittedly, a little strange.

The gleam in Detective West's eye betrays a man contemplating murder; Barry is anxious and hopeful but also aware that it'll be something of a disaster; Wally West, the newest addition to the family, looks uncomfortable and out of his depth. The only one who is even remotely enjoying this is Iris.

She's the one who greets them at the door, her grin wide as she ushers them inside. She leads them to the living room so they can pretend to do small talk with Wally and the Detective, and after realising that's going nowhere, she strategically maneuvers them to the kitchen so they can “help her set the table”.

Len isn't overly concerned about the whole ordeal -- first of all because being concerned wouldn't make it go any more smoothly -- but he won't deny it's nice enough to have someone who's loudly proclaimed she's on his and Barry’s side. He and Iris are still trying their hand at this ‘getting to know each other’ thing, and for reasons Len can’t understand and won't question it's actually going okay.

“Ask him if he'd like to stay for dinner,” Iris instructs Barry when they're at the kitchen, eyes lit up with mischief.

“He's already staying for dinner, Iris,” Barry says pleadingly. “That's why we're here.”

“Just ask him!” Iris insists, and dashes out of the room.

Barry turns to Len with a look of utter resignation. “Would you like to stay for dinner?”

“WOULD YOU LIKE TO STAY FOREVER?” Iris hollers from the next room, giggling uncontrollably when she reappears in the doorway.

“The hell he would!” Detective West shouts from the living room.

Barry covers his mouth with a hand and gives a helpless little laugh.

Len rolls his eyes at him. “You're lucky you're cute.”

“You're both adorable,” Iris cooes. “Keep it up and you might live. Just...don't be _too_ adorable, ‘cause then you might die anyway.”

Barry groans miserably.

“Encouraging,” Len tells her.

“Aw, don't worry,” Iris says. “I got your backs.”

And Barry perks up at that, so it's good enough for Len.

“Thank you, Iris,” Barry mutters, adoration in his voice.

Iris smiles and holds her arms wide open. Barry hugs her for a brief moment, then there's a blur of yellow light and the sound of plates and glasses clattering in the next room. Len assumes that is the table being set. He shakes his head and makes to follow after Barry.

“Hey, wait,” Iris calls.

Len turns to her, eyebrows raised.

“So when we met I thought you were an asshole,” she says bluntly. Len has to incline his head in agreement; it's a fair assessment. “I still think that. But you're an asshole who cares about Barry, so that's good enough for me.”

* * *

The coffee dates with Iris become a thing.

Len isn't entirely sure when or how that happens, but it's not an unwelcome addition to his routine. He sees a lot of her, given his relationship with Barry and the Rogues’ occasional team ups with the STAR labs crew, but the friendship sneaks up on him.

They've come a long way since that first coffee, Len thinks. He wasn't exactly looking for new buddies, so it takes him a while to translate his genuine respect for her and interest in her work and appreciation of her sharp wit and their regular meetings into _friendship,_  and he's honestly still a little puzzled by the whole thing, but it works.

They can't do Jitters regularly, what with it being a block away from the precinct and Len being a wanted criminal and all, but they've found a little inconspicuous cafe that they both like. It's called Cool Beans, and while that in itself is a cringe-worthy pun, Len makes it even worse by pointing out it's the perfect place for him.

Today Iris barges in a few minutes late and throws herself into a seat with so much force that Len is surprised it doesn't break.

“Bad day?” he asks.

Iris exhales through her nose and rubs at her eyes tiredly. “You know, Len, hypothetically, if I wanted to kill someone…”

“Well, I wouldn't be able to assist you personally. I've got my deal with Barry to uphold. But I can point you in the right direction,” he says, semi-serious.

On one hand, he's almost entirely certain that she’s joking. On the other, sometimes you _really_ just gotta kill a guy, and Len doesn't want Iris to think he's not there for her if that's the case. It may take him a while to realise he's made friends with someone, but from that point on he's a reliable friend, thank you very much.

It earns him a smile. “Ha. I'm tempted.”

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that right now she's more interested in talking about it than committing murder. Len tilts his head in silent question.

“New colleague,” Iris says. “I'm supposed to babysit him for the week. The man is convinced he is _the_ hottest shit that has ever graced CCPN with his presence and he's hellbent on telling _me_ how to do my job. ‘Cause you know, obviously he knows better than me, even though he started work _today_.”

“Hard to imagine you'd stand for that,” Len points out.

“Well yeah, I kept telling him off so he declared me a stuck-up bitch and went running to our editor,” Iris deadpans. “Fortunately, Scott’s a good guy and I explained the whole thing to him, so I didn't get in trouble. But he won't assign the asshole to someone else, either. I mean, it's been one day and he's already driving me up the wall.”

Len hums. “Sounds like a handful. With a little luck, he'll piss off someone with firing powers soon enough. If not, well. I know a guy who knows a guy…”

“I hope so,” Iris says dryly. “And speaking of fire, how's Mick? I haven't seen him in what, two weeks?”

That's another friendship Len has to raise an eyebrow at, but he supposes the latter is no more preposterous than the former. Iris clearly has no qualms about befriending criminals, and Mick did always have a soft spot for _fiery,_ outspoken women. It's another item to add to the list of things that work somehow and so Len won't question them.

“That's not true,” he says. “You saw us both on TV the other day.”

“Not the same,” Iris pouts. “Watching you guys and Barry play cops and robbers gets boring after like, the tenth time.”

Len raises an eyebrow. “Who's playing?”

“You know I watched the fight from STAR labs, right? You know we all have to listen to your and Barry’s bad flirting? I don't know how Mick survives it live.”

“You say flirting, I say ruse to distract the enemy,” Len drawls. “Very effective.”

“Damn,” Iris laughs. She points a finger at him in mock-accusation. “I _knew_ you had an ulterior motive.”

They grin at each other. Iris is among the few people who know the depth of Len’s feelings for Barry, and perhaps the best suited to understand them. While Barry tends to inspire strong feelings in many people, Len knows that's there's no one in the world who loves Barry quite as much as Iris West does.

(“What about you?” Iris asked him once. “Do you love him?”

And while Len knows the answer, on some level, he'd decided he wasn't ready to consciously address that question then, neither is he now. Or possibly ever.)

“You caught me,” Len says dryly.

Iris snickers. “You know, if someone had told me a few months ago that underneath all that ice you're a big ol’ softie, I'd have thought they were messing with me.”

“You would have been right,” Len says. Iris gives him a sceptical look. “Trust me, there’s nothing all that inviting deep down. The ice is there for good reason.”

“Well,” Iris says, and her expression softens. “Some people are worth melting for.”

He knew, he _knew_ those Disney movie marathons Barry and Iris get up to every Saturday could only possibly be bad news. He already has to suffer through enough Frozen jokes from the Rogues.

Len gives her a mildly irritated look. “You mean Barry? Or yourself?”

Iris puts a hand over her mouth, but even like that Len can see the smile stretching across her face. “Len, that's so sweet.”

He huffs. “I didn't say anything.”

“O _kay_.” Iris holds her hands up in surrender, tone teasing. “If you say so. Although, if you _had_ said something --”

“Maybe you should _let it go,_  Iris,” Len suggests.

She cackles in delight and it makes going along with the stupid joke worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Not too much coldflash in this one, sorry, but the idea for this just came to me and it wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it down. As of tomorrow I am officially free of exams so,, hopefully I can devote my free time to thinking and writing about these dorks.


End file.
